The Kids' Kids Are Alright

‘Extra! Extra! Boy of thirteen has a baby!’ In 1870, this would be a pretty weak story. This week however, this has got Daily Mail and Sun readers everywhere vigorously reaching for their complaint notepads. You know, the ones that come with the words “What is this country coming to?” inscribed into the letterhead. It is amazing to see the lack of reasoning and sympathy towards a young couple having a child, merely because of the frenzy that the Sun causes. I can almost see the editors of the right-wing press salivating at the thought of such a story that epitomises their entire image of ‘Broken Britain’. It was too much to ask for it to have involved an illegal immigrant and a topless model as well though, wasn’t it?

The boy in question, Alfie, looks young as it is. The fact that he is the father of a child apparently shocked Sun columnist Jane Moore “to the core”. She goes on to say that this sort of thing will “break the existing cracks in society so wide open there’ll be no hope of repair”! I’ll go back to the point I hinted at earlier. It is not so long ago in our history that a child giving birth was the conventional norm. As animals, we’re only wasting time not having offspring when we’re sexually active. This is just another example of value-setting by a vastly conservative press. If you’re going to dismiss this as the type of “liberalism that has been dismantling structured society for years”, as one Sun reader suggested, then fine, but there is a reason that the Sun are quick to pin a host of sins on the young couple. Underage sex being an obvious start to the demonization, but they go on to explain how they could claim for double benefits if they moved in, as the mother would be legally responsible for the father. The furrowed brow of many a Sun reader intensifies. Funny how the couple themselves have intimated that they would live with the mother’s parents, but the Sun felt the need to explain just how ‘crazy’ benefit schemes are under the Labour government. Added to this, her dad claims for benefits as he does not work, and his father has nine other children, some of which are not from the same mother. The ink in the disgruntled reader has now run out but wait, there’s even more. As if we weren’t already lost enough in ‘Broken Britain’, the young couple were playing an over 18 rated computer game whilst being interviewed. How can they possibly raise a child? They should be in prison three times over.

As sarcastic as that last comment was, I actually do not understand what these laws mean; surely if you have sex under age, you’re committing a crime? Oh well, they’re not apparently, as the police said it’s in nobody’s interest to prosecute. Does that not mean that the age of consent is whatever anyone likes then? If we look to our closest European counterparts, Spain, the age of consent is set at 13, and if we head to the holy land of Vatican City, it’s at an ungodly 12! Sun columnist Jan Moore would be rocking back and forth in the corner of her office if she knew.

The facts, as far as I can see them, are that, yes they are young, but they do have a lot of family around them who can all help with their somewhat premature step into parenthood. The social services have already deemed them as capable enough, and promised to give full support. So what if it’s not the normalised family life that the Sun and Mail wishes on every person? The fact is, there is nothing to say that these two, immature as they are, are going to be any worse at parenting a child than 16 year old British parents or 13 year old Spanish parents for that matter.

Is condemning this young couple going to solve anything? The right thing is for people close to them to help them out in parenthood, not just stand back from the moral high ground, preaching the Sun’s values. We spend far too much time complaining about the state of the nation to ever get up and actually make any difference to it. It’s just the British way; if you can’t be bothered to do something, just sit back in outrage and send a letter into the Sun, because they’ll understand.